07/21/2008

By RICK CALLAHAN  / Associated Press

A state health official who inspected 11 FEMA-provided mobile homes sheltering Indiana flood victims found mold on eight of those units, leading crews to replace problematic access panels on all the homes.

FEMA officials alerted the state last week after apparent mold was discovered during routine maintenance of the homes at two central Indiana mobile home parks.

Ron Clark, an industrial hygienist with the State Department of Health, inspected the 11 mobile homes on Saturday and found mold on access panels on eight of the homes and damp conditions in the other three.

He said Monday that the fungus was found on the exterior, door-like access panel that covers a compartment holding each home's water heater, although mold was also found on the door jambs.

Clark said the access panels were clad in aluminum, but the interior of was drywall — a material he said made the panels prone to becoming damp and fostering the growth of mold.

"It's really an odd design," he said. "It was an aluminum shell, just like the exterior of the trailer, but with a drywall lining inside."

Clark conducted a visual inspection of the mold and took samples for testing because he said the state health agency "treats all molds as the same." Exposure to molds can cause respiratory and allergic reactions in humans.

All the mold found was confined to the homes' water heater compartments, but Clark said state health inspectors will be returning to test the air quality in all the units periodically.

"There was no mold in the trailers at all and nothing in the living space," he said.

After Clark's inspections, the Army Corps of Engineers replaced the access panels on the 11 units and eight others that have not yet been occupied by victims from the early June flooding across much of central and southern Indiana, said Leo Arbaugh, a civil engineer with the Army Corps.

He said all 20 of those mobile homes had been brought in by FEMA from Maryland. All of them received new panels made from exterior plywood. Those units are located at Country Manor Estates near Mooresville in Morgan County and Heritage Heights near Taylorsville in Bartholomew County.

"The door weren't vented, they were poorly installed — a lot of gaps," he said. "Some of them were nailed shut, some of them had furring strips holding the door up. We just went ahead and made all new doors and replaced them. They look a lot better and they'll keep the moisture out."

He said the replaced panels are now held in place with screws to make them easier to remove.

Arbaugh said FEMA officials and the Army Corps of Engineers still must decide how to check about 700 unused mobile homes stored at the Indiana National Guard's Camp Atterbury for mold.

Telephone messages were left Monday with FEMA officials seeking comment on those units, many of which are expected to be used by the state's flood victims.

On July 10, state and FEMA officials announced that they would perform tests on those mobile homes to determine whether any of them contained unsafe levels of formaldehyde, a common construction preservative.

That testing was announced the same week Congress held hearings to grill northern Indiana-based makers of trailer homes found to have high formaldehyde levels that sickened some Hurricane Katrina victims.

State official have estimated that between 100 and 500 of those mobile homes might be needed as temporary housing for flood victims who cannot find space in rental units or hotels.